L2 60,000 players, CoH 100,000 players

How did that pic get into the There press release pile? ;) Lots of gamer stories today. Here we go...

The Automated Online Role-Player
Nerina writes:
I thought you might get a kick out of this :-)
http://archive.gamespy.com/fargo/august03/autorpg/index.shtml

The Walrus Magazine | Game Theories
Sid showed me this article and the site is down so I haven't had a chance to read it since it's massive. I believe it has to do with the EQ economy and gamer economies. It looks to be a very cool read on the money of MMORPGs
http://www.walrusmagazine.com/article.pl?sid=04/05/06/1929205&tid=1

Massively Multiplayer Wild West Sim
http://www.wildwestsim.com
"There is even prostitution!" said a shocked young Sidney, as she showed me this next title. hee hee hee. This game could be cool but the site is very sparse. I don't think they are anywhere near alpha, let alone beta. I wouls expect something in 18 months to 24 months. This game does talk about some really slick features such as being "born" into the game. You are born into an existing player family when you start...sort of like automatic mentoring. Players can get married and the new players are their kids. Here are some features:

Faction wars, saloon fights, "draw" shootouts at high noon
Player towns, homesteads/ranches, marriage, real player offspring
Gambling: slot machines, Player-2-Player Poker
Mining, farming, railroading
Mounts & pets (breeding capabilities)
Player photo uploading

Here are two interviews
http://gamebunny.com/wild_west_sim_int.htm
http://www.warcry.com/scripts/columns/view_sectionalt.phtml?site=15&id=102&colid=2588

Hollywood and Video Games
In this third news item sent from Pirate Sid, the line between movies and videos gets thinner and thinner. Major stars are appearing in games and the money generated from games becomes bigger and bigger. Game budgets are getting larger and larger.
Hollywood's Interest in Video Games Grows

Lineage 60,000 subscribers | CoH 100,000
These numbers are freaking HUGE. There Inc. management would plop their panties to get 100,000 subscribers...and in less than like four weeks! lineage is doing awesome and City Of Heros is a pure home run. Wow!
http://www.rpgdot.com/index.php?hsaction=10077&newsid=28485

CoH is pure word of mouth! I haven't seen an advertisement anywhere. It's truely amazing. I saved a great interview for last...here is the IGN interview with Jack "Statesman" Emmert, Lead Game Designer, City of Heroes. The guy reads 60 comic books a month, works over 60 hours a week on CoH, speaks 5 languages and read hieroglyphics! He is like hella black ninja geek!
http://vault.ign.com/articles/514/514854p1.html?fromint=1

The Kraken and CoV Video
Just a little more CoH. Here is E3 pre bla bla. Here is a video for the upcoming City Of Villians....peeeee.
ftp://ftp.cityofheroes.com/movies/COV_CG_Trailer_320.mov

Few people have seen the elusive Kraken beast of Perez Park. I saw him last night and had to change my underwear. He hides in the upper north west corner and he is not always there. He is the king of hydra. He is massive. 2390 points and 800 endurance. He is only level 14 but it would take 10 strong men, or 5 burly women to take him down.